Here are some more images from my trip to Cape Town: these are from World of Birds, a bird sanctuary in Hout Bay.
World of Birds
black and white
The penguins of Boulders’ Beach
While I was in Cape Town, my sister and I visited the penguin colony at Boulders’ Beach. The very harsh midday light lent itself well to black and white photography.
Fly
Meet Fly, another of my sister’s cats. The first image was taken in natural light, while Fly was playing on the grass. The other two are lit by an external flash through an umbrella.
Ballerina box
This is my favourite image from the Cinderella ballet – I thought it deserved its own post.
Cinderella Ballet
Last month, the Joburg Theatre hosted a photoshoot at the Cinderella Ballet final dress rehearsal. This is the second ballet I’ve had the opportunity to photograph, and I’ve really taken a shine to the genre. (Earlier in the year I attended the Giselle Ballet final dress rehearsal.)
The two ballets had a very different feel to them – while Giselle was eerie and mystical, Cinderella had a whimsical, humorous nature. The latter is not something I usually incorporate in my photography, but I enjoyed the challenge.
The ugly stepsisters were the highlight of the show – especially the one portrayed below. ‘She’ (actually a man dressed in drag) aced the comical, overdramatic facial expressions which were crucial to the role.
The show also contained a couple of quiet scenes, depicting Cinderella’s despair and feelings of loneliness.
Then, of course there was Cinderella’s fairy godmother, and the iconic carriage…
…followed by the ball, and the lost slipper.
The court jester kept the crowd entertained during the hunt for the slipper’s owner.
Finally, the prince was reunited with Cinderella, and all was well with the world – once again, a brilliant performance at the Joburg Theatre!
Rusty
Canon 1100D, 50mm lens
f2.2; ISO 100; 1/200sec
Here’s Rusty again, this time looking stylish against my white studio backdrop.
Addo Elephant Park
At the end of June my parents and I went holidaying in the Eastern Cape. After spending a few days in PE, we travelled to Addo Elephant Park, a SANParks reserve.
Driving in we spotted a warthog and some of the elephants the camp is known for. This elephant image of mine later won a Shot of the Month competition.
We also had a great sighting of some zebra, frolicking around an artificial water hole – as with the rest of the country, the park hasn’t had rain in months.
At a similar watering hole, we sat at a hide and watched this poor old buffalo take a drink.
On our last night, we decided to brave the cold and go on one of the park’s night drives. And good that we did – we had some amazing sitings! The only lighting I had was the ranger’s flashlight, but I pushed my ISO up to 1600 and managed to make it work.
Looking at the rest of this post, I see it’s all in black and white (unintentionally!). But anyway, here’s a pop of colour; this was the view from my balcony on the morning we left. It consists of several images stitched together in Photoshop.
Don’t miss my previous posts from this trip:
Cape Recife Lighthouse
At the end of June my parents and I went holidaying in Port Elizabeth.
After touring SAMREC we went for a walk/shoot on the beach at Cape Recife; a nature reserve including SAMREC and the Cape Recife Lighthouse.
The beach was full of abstract patterns, textures…
…and rocks of interesting shapes and sizes.
While exploring, I discovered this section of rock covered in flies – I half expected to find a rotting body around the corner. (By the way, did you know that a group of flies is called a business?)
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions about my images!
SAMREC
At the end of June my parents and I went holidaying in Port Elizabeth. On the third day of our trip, we visited SAMREC: South African Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre.
The centre takes in a wide range of injured seabirds and attempts to nurse them back to health before releasing them back into the wild. Here are a couple of their current inhabitants: a cormorant, and a cape gannet.
The penguins had their own enclosure, including a brick-red wall which made a decent background.
When feeding time came around, all the penguins lined up to get their fish.
This little guy was having a claustrophobic moment during feeding time; I took this shot through the thick, scratched glass that looks into the penguin pool.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on my images!
Winning DPC’s Shot of the Month Competition
I have been submitting images to Digital Photography Course‘s photo review site since I attended their Food Photography Workshop in January last year. They have three standard competitions; Shot of the Week, Shot of the Month, and Shot of the Year. After slowly winning a few Shot of the Weeks, this image of mine finally won July’s Shot of the Month!
Through the Viewfinder 